[Vision2020] Yet Another Task Force Doomed to Fail? (was RE: UI alcohol policy)

Wed Apr 17 14:39:56 PDT 2013

Visionaries:

I’m so glad Ron Force posted the article Animal House on Steroids from The
Chronicle of Higher Education, and I’m grateful for the discussion thus far
that’s followed.  I, too, have been absolutely gob-smacked by the relative
community silence about the Joe Wiederrick’s heartbreakingly preventable
death – in many other communities, such a tragedy would have been seized as
a teachable moment.  So far, we’ve seen virtually no community-wide
response, and the UI’s official response to date has been almost predictably
anemic with the formation of yet two more task forces.  I’ve had the
4/6/2013 Daily News gathering dust and taking up space on my desk for too
long now while waiting for my blood to stop boiling, but today that ends.

In part, Wayne Fox wrote:

“It's revealingly ironic that UI/WSU would consider the last place to look
for guidance/solutions for this problem would be peer reviewed academic
journals.”

I completely agree with the above, and I cannot adequately express my
disappointment at that, but even worse for me is that the UI’s response to
Joe’s death includes two task forces, one of which, it seems to me, is
virtually destined to fail due to the beyond puzzling choice of at least one
of those appointed to Greek life task force:  Carl Berry.

However successful Mr. Berry may have been in the business world and working
for & with his frat Sigma Nu, his knowledge and education seem to have
stopped back in the Dark Ages because why else would his offensive opinion
about the morals of women have any place in a Greek life task force looking
at the indisputable role the Greek system played in Joe Wiederrick’s death?!

Women's morals have also changed since then, he said.

"They feel more sexually free, and there seems to be little hesitancy in
going to a fraternity and meeting a boyfriend and doing what they do," Berry
said, adding sororities have full-time house directors to keep boys and
alcohol out. "Some of the girls that want to have behavior that might not
belong in the sorority have to go out of the sorority."

And, as offensive as that comment is, just as bad, it seems to me, is
Berry’s . . . .extremely selective and/or faulty memory of the past, a
phenomena I call “Glory Days-ing”:

"I was in a frat back in the dark ages," Berry said, adding beer was
present, but chugging vodka seems to be a preference these days. "That
certainly was not the case when I was in school. We had a couple beers and
that was it."

Even if one is willing to accept Berry’s comments as being accurate for
himself at the UI, the problem is that perception most certainly was NOT
accurate for the Greek system at the UI back then.  Talk to folks who taught
at and those who lived on campus back in Berry’s era, and you’ll hear about
the frequent and wild Greek times where very few partying had just “a couple
of beers!”

Further, if Mr. Berry’s association with the Greek system had ceased back
when he graduated from the UI in the 1960s, perhaps one could understand his
utter lack of awareness about the fact that active membership in the Greek
system has long been recognized as one of the top risk factors for excess
alcohol consumption in college, but Mr. Berry hasn’t been absent from the
Greek system since then, and his particular fraternity – Sigma Nu – has
earned quite the place in the Greek Hall of Shame, both locally and
nationally.  Indeed, given his long experience with Sigma Nu, a student’s
death directly related to excess alcohol consumption on Greek premises
certainly isn’t new to him  L

Has college drinking changed since Mr. Berry’s time in the Dark Ages?  It –
along with how we look at the issue -- has certainly changed several times
since then, but based on the UI stories I’ve heard about from Berry’s
years,” I’m not convinced it’s changed nearly as radically as Mr. Berry’s
memory seems to indicate.

Call me jaded, but I don’t have much confidence that any meaningful
suggestions are going to come out of “yet another task force” when those
selected to serve have a vested interest in perpetuating the flawed status
quo, particularly when perhaps the most senior member of that task force is
someone who genuinely doesn’t seem to have a flippin’ clue in spite of his
long history in the Greek system.  The historic message sent by the UI to
the Greek system has been that it can get away with anything without
University consequences.

Frankly, it seems to me that the Greek system has proven itself to be
spectacularly unsuited to police itself.  Let’s not forget that
alcohol-related deaths and accidents directly related to over-consumption on
Greek premises have been identified as a serious issue for somewhere in the
neighborhood of thirty years now, and even disregarding the bigger national
picture and looking just at the local UI/WSU picture, the picture continues
to be unacceptably grim.

And, call me jaded, but I have grave concerns about the UI’s interest in or
willingness to address serious issues.  I’m sure none of us have forgotten
the tragic murder of Katy Benoit and her family’s determination to ensure
Katy’s death wasn’t forgotten.  As I recall, part of the Benoit family’s
settlement with the UI was that the family received a very modest financial
settlement, which the family then gave at least some back to the University
for the “Katy Benoit Memorial Fund.”  The UI’s theme for the 2012 Katy
Benoit Safety Forum was “I Got Your Back”:

http://www.uidaho.edu/studentaffairs/health-education/i-got-your-back

While the idea seems to be a good one, the UI’s delivery was a failure-- at
least within the Greek system -- because not a single one of the dozens of
Vandals present that party night at the SAE house had Joe’s back or his dorm
mate’s back.

And, call me jaded, but I have absolutely zero confidence that the UI is
serious about addressing the rampant alcohol abuse within the Greek system
because the UI’s actions – or lack thereof – speak louder than the words.
I’m going to assume that everyone knows what Vandal Friday is, yes?  For
those who don’t know, check out:

http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/vandal-friday/

“We’ll roll out the red carpet for you and your parents and show you what
life as a VIP at the University of Idaho is really all about.”

The most recent Vandal Friday was just a couple of weeks back on 5 April.
While strolling around campus, what do you suppose a visitor might have
seen?

If your guess is an outdoor kegger before 4 PM at one of Greek houses near
the Perch, your guess would be accurate.

If you also guessed that no one was checking IDs, you’d also be correct. . .
but perhaps the kegger – like all alcohol-soaked Greek parties -- was only
for those they “know for a fact are 21 and over.”  Riigghhtt.  And, that’s
just such a great message to send to new Vandals and potential Vandals,
isn’t it?  As one person observed of that spectacle, it certainly will
attract a certain kind of student, but that’s probably not the kind of
student the UI should be interested in attracting.

Does the UI not realize how absolutely insane it is to parents, students,
potential students, and the community as a whole that is has absolutely no
mechanism in place to deal with the fatal behavior exercised at SAE, a
fraternity that was mandated to be dry because of previous serious dangerous
alcohol-related behavior?

In my opinion, the Greek system has no place in the UI community so
systematically determined to turn a blind eye to chronic, inexcusable,
dangerous, and even fatal behavior within the Greek system, and that
we-the-taxpayers are footing the bill for “University professional staff who
are employed to advise the Greek organizations” is beyond obscene.

While Rose linked to some good articles, for those interested in a great
read, I highly recommend reading The Drinking Game written by history
professor Marshall Poe published in Policy Review in 2010, which gives a
brief yet highly informative history of college drinking:

http://www.hoover.org/publications/policy-review/article/49796

The opening is particularly powerful, and I cannot help but think that Joe
would not have died had he wound up at Professor Poe’s house.

While I don’t agree with everything Poe wrote, I do think the entire article
is worth reading, and I’ll include just a couple of excerpts to give an idea
of how not everyone shares Mr. Berry’s desire to minimize the long history
of alcohol on college campuses in the US:

Americans have been wrestling with college drinking for so long that they’ve
forgotten there was a time when they didn’t. Prior to World War II there
were a number of “crises” on American campuses — loutish behavior at
football games, the introduction of the research-heavy “German Method,” the
corruption of coeds — but excessive college drinking was not among them. As
one turn-of-the-century commentator put it, drinking was simply a
“conventional college sin,” an innocent excess afforded to a small class of
youth from better families. The fact that collegians routinely got plastered
just wasn’t news. When it was, it was treated lightly . . . 

. . . In truth, college drinking had never been high on academic research
agendas as it wasn’t seen as a major problem. The first serious study in the
field was not produced until 1952; two decades passed before it was
“followed up.” At the time Wechsler started his work, the conventional
wisdom — the fruit of the 1952 survey — was that there really was no such
thing as “college drinking”: College students drank at the same rate as
their noncollege peers (about three-fourths of them imbibed) and they
learned to do so at home, not in college. Later studies of the early and
mid-1970s did little to change this impression, not because they didn’t
challenge it — some did — but because they were not widely reported. In
1978, however, Wechsler conducted a survey of New England undergraduates
that suggested a significant increase in the percentage of drinking
students: Researchers found that 74 percent drank in 1952; Wechsler found
that 95 percent drank in 1978. He also claimed that students in his study
were drinking harder: In 1952 two-thirds of men and one-third of women said
they had been drunk at least once; in 1978 five-sixths of men and
three-fourths of women said the same. . . .

. . . For most of the 20th century, Americans viewed college drinking as a
nonevent, not a sort of sickness. This is understandable, for the number of
college students was small. In 1900, two percent of eighteen- to
24-year-olds matriculated, so it was simple for “us” to ignore what “they”
did. The fact that we changed our minds in the 1980s is equally
understandable, for the number of college students had by then grown very
large. In 1980, 40 percent of eighteen- to 24-year-olds went to college, so
college drinking was harder to stomach because “they” had become “us.” Our
children were drinking themselves out of school, out of careers, and out of
life itself. No wonder we were ready to accept that college drinking —
though it had not changed in any major way — had suddenly become a public
health crisis.

If anyone has read through all this, you’ve earned a gold star!

I’ll just end by saying that I’m not some Pollyanna with unrealistic ideas
that the UI can somehow magically stop alcohol over-consumption by students
over or under 21.

I do, however, firmly believe that the current culture of alcohol excess –
particularly within the Greek system – on the UI campus is a product of the
UI’s chronic not-so-benign neglect of failing to adequately and
appropriately address the problem.  Continuing the same dysfunctional and
ineffective approach isn’t what I expect of my alma mater.

Even crazier, it seems to me, is that the UI doesn’t seem to recognize that
too many of the parents of the students it wants to attract are deciding it
just may not safe to send their kids here, and is it any wonder?  I think
most parents realize that their college-aged kids are going to engage in
some really stupid & unhealthy behaviors, but too many times in more recent
years, the consequences of those bad choices for young adults at the UI &
WSU have been the death penalty or have resulted in serious injury, and
that’s what sticks in the minds of parents.  It takes years of good PR to
outweigh those tragedies in the minds of conscientious parents, and the
tragedies here are coming too darn close together.

Saundra

Moscow, ID

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Art Deco
Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2013 7:51 AM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] UI alcohol policy

Rose,

Thank you for the amount of time and effort that you have taken on this
matter.  It's a serious matter not only at UI but at WSU as well.

It's revealingly ironic that UI/WSU would consider the last place to look
for guidance/solutions for this problem would be peer reviewed academic
journals.  The arrogance and isolation of university administration from the
real world is mind boggling, and explains in part their misguided,
counterproductive, and poor public policy reluctance to share public
records.

But as long as only 2 or three deaths or serious maimings occur per year,
the UI/WSU nonchalance, ignorance, and arrogance is likely to continue.
Students are expendables except in large quantities.

w.

On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 7:53 PM, Rosemary Huskey
<donaldrose at cpcinternet.com> wrote:

For several months I have tried to find out more about the University of
Idaho’s handling of alcohol offenses on campus.  Stonewalled is a gracious
description for the response of UI Staff Counsel, Guilherme Costa, to my
public records requests. To be absolutely fair, it is possible that he was
just following orders. Perhaps he would have provided some information if I
had been willing to part with the amount of money he quoted to find the
information I requested - $1,500 initially and after I modified my request
for information (downloading a simple data base) $500.00.  I passed up both
opportunities. Last week, I received the following note from Matthew Kurtz,
UI Greek advisor.  It was my first communication from him.  A note I sent to
UI Staff Counsel, Guilherme Costa, found its way to him.  I read it and my
head exploded, (as it is occasionally wont to do ). I responded to him,
President Nellis, Bruce Pitman, and the State Board of Education.  None of
them will give a hoot but something needs to be said.  From the silence of
the community following the death of Joseph Widerrick to the inability of
the University of Idaho to take meaningful action we should all be ashamed.
And yes, I know that no one was forcing Joseph Widerrick to drink so
recklessly, but that is not my point.  The University failed him by
allowing, indeed in my opinion encouraging, a dangerous attractive nuisance,
the fraternity system, to thrive  unchecked, on campus.  The community
failed him by their silence and by inaction when he desperately needed help
as he wandered in a confused state on the coldest night of the year.  That
young man could have been any of my sons during their goofy years, or my
brothers when they were in fraternities.  I am betting they could have been
your sons, daughters, sisters or brothers as well. Eighteen year old kids
just do stupid things sometimes.  We must speak up even when we are ignored
or treated as bitchy pests.  What happened to Joseph Widerrick was wrong on
so many levels and cannot be ignored.

Rose Huskey

*****

Good Morning Matthew Kurtz

Thank you for your prompt response to my recent note.  As you are aware I
have profound concerns about the Greek system at the University of Idaho.
The number of alcohol related injuries, near fatalities, and fatalities as a
consequence of the unsupervised grouping of feral adolescent males is a
recipe for continual damage to the wellbeing of students and the reputation
of the University of Idaho.   Never has that tired old cliché ‘lay down with
dogs come up with fleas’ been more relevant – and in the minds of many
people, including alumni like me (undergraduate and graduate degrees) - been
more aptly applied to describe the relationship between UI administration
and fraternity members.  The University is correctly perceived, in my
opinion, as weak and obsequious toward fraternity members’ unabashed
criminal behavior.  This curiously lop sided relationship is best described
in your own words, “As for sanctions levied by the University against the
fraternity, there are no policies currently in place where we would have the
ability to sanction the chapter.” Help me to understand, Matthew Kurtz, what
kind of mindset defends the notion that a privately owned home is permitted
to be a public nuisance despite decades of underage drinking, drug use,
sexual assaults, injury and alcohol related fatalities?

I read the list of alcohol educational programs that have recently been
conducted at the University of Idaho. The time, energy, and money poured
into these efforts  is clearly wasted.  The SAE house was supposed to be
dry.  According to statements provided to Moscow Police Department, they
were on probation for previous alcohol offenses.  (Apparently the probation
came from their national organization.  Who do you suppose monitors that
requirement?  Do you think for a nanosecond that they self-report
infractions?)  The probation is meaningless.  Drinking and “family nights”
- an extremely offensive term when used to describe alcohol related event
with sororities  - were mentioned in some of the police statements.  So were
the terms “just social drinking” and “casual drinking” as routine
occurrences.  

You bring fresh meaning to the word chutzpah, Matthew Kurtz.  You claim –
apparently in connection to alcohol education efforts - that “Though this
method has shown a reduction in risky behavior with our Greeks there is
still work to be done.” Indeed, your office has work to be done starting
with not tolerating frat parties that lead to a young man freezing to death
under a bridge on the coldest night of the year.  It is a mercy that his
companion, Joe Stellers, didn’t freeze to death as well.  He was so
inebriated that when he left the SAE house that night he wandered over
fields two miles south of Moscow before finally turning back toward Moscow
and making it to his dorm.  In your role as Greek Advisor, do you ever drop
by fraternity houses uninvited and unexpectedly on a Friday or Saturday
night to observe firsthand what those self-entitled little gits are up to?
What do you mean by the phrase “our Greeks”? Who is your allegiance to, the
University of Idaho, the citizens of Idaho who provide you with a salary and
benefits, or the boys who are causing so many problems and so much pain?  

The alcohol programs instituted at the University of Idaho and their
look-a-like clones have been studied extensively.  Research demonstrates
that they are what we used to call “busy work” offering the appearance of
learning/teaching but generally pointless in effect. The following journal
articles may provide you with additional background on the topic.  As a
professional you must be aware that 

peer reviewed journal articles on the topic of substance abuse uniformly
stress that members of Greek houses have a much higher rate of alcohol abuse
than other students. Young men, specifically, those who pledge Greek houses
generally bring with them to college a long history of alcohol and drug
abuse.  They seek the Greek living experience to enjoy the convenience of
easy access to alcohol, and encouragement of all that it entails

http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1923/Drug-Alcohol-Abuse.html. 

“Findings: 
Active members of fraternities and sororities had higher levels of heavy
episodic drinking, annual marijuana use and current cigarette smoking than
non-members at all three waves. Although members of fraternities reported
higher levels than non-members of annual illicit drug use other than
marijuana, no such differences existed between sorority members and
non-members. Heavy episodic drinking and annual marijuana use increased
significantly with age among members of fraternities or sororities relative
to non-members, but there were no such differential changes for current
cigarette use or annual illicit drug use other than marijuana.
Conclusions: 
The present study provides strong evidence that higher rates of substance
use among US college students who join fraternities and sororities predate
their college attendance, and that membership in a fraternity or sorority is
associated with considerably greater than average increases in heavy
episodic drinking and annual marijuana use during college. These findings
have important implications for prevention and intervention efforts aimed
toward college students, especially members of fraternities and sororities.”

 <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15784066> Selection and socialization
effects of fraternities and sororities on US college student substance use:
a multi-cohort national longitudinal study.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=McCabe%20SE%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=tru
e&cauthor_uid=15784066> McCabe SE,
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Schulenberg%20JE%5BAuthor%5D&cautho
r=true&cauthor_uid=15784066> Schulenberg JE,
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Johnston%20LD%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=t
rue&cauthor_uid=15784066> Johnston LD,
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=O%27Malley%20PM%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor
=true&cauthor_uid=15784066> O'Malley PM,
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Bachman%20JG%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=tr
ue&cauthor_uid=15784066> Bachman JG,
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Kloska%20DD%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=tru
e&cauthor_uid=15784066> Kloska DD.

The following abstract – the entire article is well worth reading -
emphasizes the same finding. The bibliography appears to be extensive and
valuable.

“Arguably, the Greek, or fraternity-sorority, system is the best environment
on campus in which to examine the role of social influence processes on
alcohol use and problems. Members of Greek organizations consistently
demonstrate higher levels of alcohol use and problems than nonmembers (Lo
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2726649/#R37> & Globetti, 1995;
Sher, Bartholow,  <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2726649/#R55>
& Nanda, 2001). Specifically, fraternity and sorority members and leaders
exhibit high levels of use and approval of use (Cashin, Presley,
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2726649/#R18> & Meilman, 1998).
In fact, particular houses often have reputations based on their members’
alcohol consumption (Larimer, Irvine, Kilmer,
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2726649/#R35> & Marlatt, 1997).
In a review of 2 decades of research on fraternity drinking, Borsari and
Carey (1999) <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2726649/#R13>
identified five factors contributing to the heavy drinking consistently
observed in fraternities: (a) a continuity of heavy alcohol use from high
school to college; (b) self-selection into heavy drinking environments; (c)
the central role that alcohol plays in fraternity socialization; (d)
misperceptions of drinking norms; and (e) the enabling environment of the
fraternity house. Thus, an individual’s decision to join the Greek system
and the subsequent socialization that may occur in this environment provide
an ideal context in which to study the influences of selection,
socialization, and active and passive social influences on college student
drinking.”

“In a review of 2 decades of research on fraternity drinking, Borsari and
Carey (1999) <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2726649/#R13>
identified five factors contributing to the heavy drinking consistently
observed in fraternities: (a) a continuity of heavy alcohol use from high
school to college; (b) self-selection into heavy drinking environments; (c)
the central role that alcohol plays in fraternity socialization; (d)
misperceptions of drinking norms; and (e) the enabling environment of the
fraternity house. Thus, an individual’s decision to join the Greek system
and the subsequent socialization that may occur in this environment provide
an ideal context in which to study the influences of selection,
socialization, and active and passive social influences on college student
drinking.”

And finally:

 <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2726649/#R37> Fraternity and
Sorority Involvement, Social Influences, and Alcohol Use Among College
Students

A Prospective Examination.  Christy Capone
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Capone%20C%5Bauth%5D> , Mark D.
Wood <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Wood%20MD%5Bauth%5D> , Brian
Borsari <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Borsari%20B%5Bauth%5D> ,
and Robert D. Laird
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Laird%20RD%5Bauth%5D> 

Psychol Addict Behav. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 August 13.

Published in final edited form as:

Psychol Addict Behav. 2007 September; 21(3): 316
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&retmode=
ref&cmd=prlinks&id=17874882> –327. 

“Abstract:

This study used latent growth curve modeling to investigate whether the
effects of gender and Greek involvement on alcohol use and problems over the
first 2 years of college are best characterized by selection, socialization,
or reciprocal influence processes. Three social influences (alcohol offers,
social modeling, and perceived norms) were examined as potential mediators
of these effects. Undergraduate participants (N = 388) completed self-report
measures prior to enrollment and in the spring of their freshmen and
sophomore years. Male gender and involvement in the Greek system were
associated with greater alcohol use and problems prior to college. Both
gender and Greek involvement significantly predicted increases in alcohol
use and problems over the first 2 years of college. Cross-domain analyses
provided strong support for a mediational role of each of the social
influence constructs on alcohol use and problems prior to matriculation, and
prematriculation social modeling and alcohol offers mediated relations
between Greek involvement and changes in alcohol use over time. Findings
suggest that students, particularly men, who affiliate with Greek
organizations constitute an at-risk group prior to entering college,
suggesting the need for selected interventions with this population, which
should take place before or during the pledging process. (PsycINFO Database
Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)” 

Three members of the SAE house were cited for providing alcohol to minors
following the investigation into the death of Joseph Weiderrick. They are:
Dakota (Jake) Vegwert, Michael Bright, and Luke J. Torretta .  Luke has a
history of this kind of alleged behavior
<https://www.idcourts.us/repository/caseHistory.do?roaDetail=yes&schema=LATA
H&partySequence=91839&county=Latah&displayName=Torretta%2C+Luke+J> .  He was
cited in March 2010 in a similar alcohol related offense.  After months of
haggling and delays the prosecutor dropped the charge.  It was a misdemeanor
offense and I suppose Bill Thompson (or his representative) felt he had
wasted enough time on it.  Do you appreciate the irony of the SAE webpage
that shows Luke Torretta as a house office and the Risk Manager?

Have these miscreants, aside from the pledge Dakota Vegwert, been asked to
leave the SAE house?  Why in the world would you trust the current house
officers to take control of the situation when they are so deficient in
leadership, they are part of the problem?  Do your support current SAE
efforts to actively recruit new members?  I could hardly believe my eyes
when I saw that the SAE house was rushing incoming students
<http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/student_orgs/sae/>  just last month.  These
addled brain little jackasses chose the fraternity life so that they could
party what few brains they have right out of their pointy little skulls.
And, the truth is that you can’t stop them, certainly Bruce Pitman (who,
incidentally has failed to do so for thirty plus years), can’t and neither
can the Idaho Board of Education.  As it stands now, I am certain that they
laugh at the bunch of you, and why shouldn’t they? 

It is my very strong sense that a single action could stop the whole mess.
Let’s call it the Chico State
<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/11/cal-state-chico-greek-alcohol
-death.html>  solution.  It would take courage and character.  President
Nellis, could make a decision to leave a meaningful and lifesaving legacy on
this campus if he would suspend all fraternity and sorority recognition at
the University of Idaho until each house individually presents to the
incoming president and members of the State Board of Education a plan that
calls for closely monitored supervision of each house, including unannounced
inspections for alcohol and other drugs and a requirement for two live-in
male adults (or house mothers in the case of sororities) to serve as round
the clock monitors. The supervisors (aka wardens) can not be former
fraternity members. Naturally, individual houses must pay the costs
associated with the supervision.  You know, as does every sentient adult,
the cheesy sentimentality of “brotherhood” would fall quickly by the wayside
if actual elements of maturity and honor were involved and expected from the
membership.  At this juncture and historically, what they have proven over
and over again is this: they are incapable of self-regulation.  One of the
more disgusting elements I found when reading the police investigatory
statements was the justification from an SAE member for purchasing alcohol
underage members because  he “was just trying to help them out like his
brothers did for him when he was underage.” 

Until the University of Idaho becomes serious, and by that I mean punitively
serious, about alcohol and other criminal activities in Greek houses,
citizens of the state of Idaho will be plagued by the consequences of your
seemingly unending tolerance.  At what point does injury, death, and the
concurrent liability to the State of Idaho begin to rattle your conscience
and bring about change?  How long will you, senior administrators on campus,
and your aging, saggy-bellied, frat rat allies across the nation continue to
uncritically celebrate and endorse the fraternity way of life on the
University of Idaho campus?  

Sincerely,

Rosemary Huskey

PS  I have a suggestion for you, one you might want to share with UI
attorney, Guilherme Costa.  It is always a mistake to use an individual’s
first name if you have not been invited to do so.  It establishes an
unprofessional, patronizing tone to the exchange that is both presumptive
and unwelcome.  

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               http://www.fsr.net
          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
=======================================================

-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com

  <http://users.moscow.com/waf/WP%20Fox%2001.jpg> 

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